Petrichor

Long as amber of Ember glows

The newfound scent of his soulmate was going to drive Adrian insane, if he wasn't already. Now, every time he walked through a corridor he would catch a whiff of it and he would frantically look around to find its source, always coming up empty handed. The only reprieve he had were lessons and the time he spent in the Slytherin common room, which meant the girl he was looking for was neither in his house nor in his year, but he had known that already. In any case, Adrian was frustrated as hell and he still had to attend a Prefect meeting in an hour. If he didn't take some time away from everyone he would surely snap. Thinking that the Library would be the perfect place for some peace and quiet, as it was a Friday and it would likely be empty, the dark haired boy entered his common room to drop his bag before heading for the first floor.

"There you are Ades! I've been looking for you."

The voice of his best friend stopped him in his tracks, a few feet away from the staircase leading to his room, and he reluctantly turned towards the armchairs around the fireplace where he saw Terrence getting up from his place and coming over to him.

"Where are you going in such a rush?" The boy asked him once he was front of him. "I know you have a meeting soon, but Tate is still here. And you and I both know how that guy is with his Prefect duties."

Adrian rolled his eyes at his friend's curious nature but nonetheless humored him.

"The meeting starts at 5 but I wanted to go to the Library for a bit."

Terrence's eyes lit up at that response and a slow, mischievous smile appeared on his face.

"Planning on doing some birdwatching?" He said, waggling his eyebrows.

The Slytherin Prefect tilted his head in bewilderment, wondering if his friend had gone off the rocker.

"What are you on about, Higgs?"

Terrence shrugged.

"I'm just saying. There would be nothing wrong with that. And I happen to know that a certain Gryffindor bookworm is there right now." He replied, saying the last part in a whisper so that only Adrian could hear.

"Wh-" started Adrian, but his friend wasn't done.

"I mean, she was going in that direction when I talked to her so I cannot really be sure. But I would bet at least 20 galleons that she was going to the Library and is still there."

"Right, thanks for the information." The Prefect said, still a little baffled by the other boy's strange behaviour. He couldn't deny that he found the information interesting indeed but he didn't understand why Terrence was being so weird about it.

That was, until his last words caught up to him.

His eyes narrowed dangerously then and a dark look overcame his facial features.

"You talked to her?" He hissed as a wide range of emotions overwhelmed him, shock, anger and jealousy being at the forefront. His reaction was irrational, he knew, but he couldn't help it.

Never, in the three years Hermione Granger had been attending Hogwarts, had they exchanged a word. Not even crossed paths by mistake. Adrian had been keeping an eye on her, true, but always from a safe distance and always being careful to keep his façade intact. And now, it turned out his best friend had talked to her and was pretty excited about it too, judging from his earlier behaviour. To Adrian though, it was maddening to say the least. He was furiously trying to push the envy away because it was ridiculous and it wasn't even in his right to be jealous. Funnily enough, that last though seemed to be working to reign in his emotions so he kept repeating it in his head like a mantra, even though it left a bitter taste in his mouth.